4A playoffs: Defense, Kivlin Van Tassel’s 3 TD catches lead JCA past Phillips

JOLIET — After a nearly 20-minute delay due to the lights going out at Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium, Friday night’s Class 4A first-round playoff game between Joliet Catholic Academy and Phillips was called with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter and the Hilltoppers leading 43-6. JCA (8-2) receives the victory and advances to the second round, where they will take on Providence Catholic, a 17-3 winner over Wheaton Academy.

After a pair of games that saw the running game take center stage, it was the defense and the passing game that stepped to the fore Friday night for JCA. T.J. Schlageter threw four touchdown passes - three to Kivlin Van Tassel and one to Nate Ahoyt - and the Hilltopper defense, led by Jeremy Johnson, who had three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery, held Phillips to 119 total yards.

“All of us on the defensive line are returning from last year,” Johnson said. “We are starting to play how we know we can. The offense helps us out by scoring points, then we help them out by getting the ball back.

“The defense has stepped up the last few weeks, and now with the playoffs here, we know we need to keep doing that.”

Van Tassel caught TD passes of 34, 25 and 23 yards. The middle TD was a thing of beauty, as he launched into a headlong dive in the end zone to corral the pass by Schlageter, who was 5 for 7 for 122 yards and four TDs.

“We came in with a game plan,” Van Tassel said. “We wanted to use the play-action, and the offensive line did a great job of pass protection.

“On the one I dove for, I looked up and saw the ball. T.J. put it right on the money and I knew I was going to catch it. This is a nice start in the playoffs for us.”

The Hilltoppers led 29-6 after Van Tassel’s second touchdown catch with 1:15 left in the first half, and they took that score into halftime. The only flaw for JCA was allowing Phillips’ Ryan McDonald to return a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown after Ahoyt’s juggling, one-handed 22-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.

Van Tassel caught his third TD pass early in the third, and Justin Bonsu added a 19-yard scoring run before the lights went out at the stadium. After the two teams waited around 20 minutes for the lights to come back on, Phillips coach Joseph Winslow decided to take his team home.

“He didn’t want to get any more kids banged up,” JCA coach Jake Jaworski said about Winslow’s decision. “He has the city playoffs coming up and a couple kids had already gotten a little dinged up tonight. It was fine with me. I don’t want our kids to get hurt either. After sitting and cooling off for that long, why take the risk?”

JCA had a balanced offensive attack, running for 175 yards and throwing for 139. H.J. Grigsby led the Hilltopper runners with 82 yards, while Bonsu ran for 66.

“The passing game and defense were outstanding for us,” Jaworski said. “The defense really limited Phillips and gave our offense the ball in real good field position all night. We relied in our running game the last couple of weeks, so it was nice to bring the passing game out.

“T.J. put the ball right on the money to his receivers, and tonight, it was Kivlin’s turn to have the big night. And, Nate Ahoyt made a heck of a catch on his touchdown. If we can get some big plays in the play-action game, it just adds another layer that teams have to worry about.”